Loot Hound™

Developer: Rhizome Games™ | Publisher: Rhizome Games™ | Release Date: 2015 | Genre: Casual / Indie / Simulation / Strategy | Website: Official Website | Purchase: Steam / itch.io

Killing, stealing, or rummaging through garbage are the three most common ways of accumulating loot in games. Thanks to Loot Hound, players can now keep their hands free of blood and garbage by letting their trusty dog do all the work. It is a non-violent, casual title about taking your dogs for a walk and letting them scavenge for loot along the way. Your character is a bit of a hoarder, though, so don’t expect his idea of priceless treasure to match yours.

The game starts you off gently with a single dog and a muddy backlot to explore. As you progress, you eventually get to own three different dogs and can choose from twelve different parks. The dogs are all different breeds, each with its own unique ability. Your starter dog is an all-rounder who can dig through rock, while the small dog has a knack for squeezing through gaps that are too tight for the other two. Finally, your large hound can scare away the vermin that sometimes refuse to budge from the treasure buried beneath them.

Locating the loot is as simple as can be. You pick a dog and then a park where you want to try your luck. The action is viewed from a top-down perspective, and you use your keyboard or controller to move the character around with his dog in tow. As you move, you can use buttons to extend or retract its leash. The former gives it more freedom to sniff out loot, while the latter is handy if it becomes distracted by squirrels or joggers and needs to be reeled in. If the dog detects loot, it will start barking and circling its prize. During this time, you must get your character out of its way and hope nothing will show up that will distract the dog. The dog will then start digging, and if successful, a golden ball with the loot inside will pop out for collection.

The actual loot is a strange collection of items, to be sure, and consists of everything from an angry badger scarf and seagull egg to snake oil and even a 100-year-old baguette. These items are ranked from common to legendary and reward your character with loot points that can be used to improve the statistics of the dogs. Their digging, detection, concentration, stamina, and luck can be enhanced to make the task of tracking down loot a little easier. Each dog has a stamina bar that slowly depletes as they walk around and dig up loot, so your goal is to collect as much as you can before they get too tired and must return home.

Loot Hound is a casual title and is simple enough to be enjoyed by players of all ages. The only aspect of the game that can be considered “challenging” is the City Park Patrol, who can be found wandering around. If they see your dog digging holes, they will immediately give chase and, if caught, will evict you from the park. There is no penalty for getting caught, though, as you still get to keep all the items you managed to scavenge.

While the game’s visuals are not exactly cutting-edge, they have a certain charm. The painted-style backgrounds are pretty neat, and the sprites match the whimsical style of the game. Butterflies flutter about, flies buzz around trash cans, and the weather can even turn, causing it to rain. As you wander around with a dog, it can be distracted by its surroundings, start chasing nearby people or creatures, or even stop to pee against objects. Thankfully you don’t have to walk around scooping up doggie doo! The sound is nicely done, with some great ambient sound effects that bring each park to life. The game also features a narrator who describes each unusual object you find with great relish.

Loot Hound is perfect for playing whenever you have a few spare minutes or don’t feel like delving into a more demanding game. Uncovering all 132 loot items in the game will take a few hours, and the game even received a holiday update after release. The update included two new levels, 22 new holiday-themed items, and the ability to kick piles of snow to see what is buried underneath. Players looking for a challenge or in-depth mechanics might scoff at the simplicity of Loot Hound, but this quirky title kept us playing far longer than expected. For looting without shooting, Loot Hound is your game.
*Review originally published in 2015.